In what likely will be a trend for the next few years, Sony/ATV is the No. 1­­­­-­ ranked music publisher, based on its market share of the top 100 songs as compiled by Nielsen BDS.

For the fourth quarter, Sony/ATV, which includes administration for EMI Music Publishing, posted a share of 25.8%, which is up slightly from the 25.7% share that the combined entity tallied in the third quarter. On June 29, 2012, a Sony Corp. of America-led consortium completed the acquisition of EMI Music Publishing and assigned the company to Sony/ATV for administration.

In the fourth quarter, Sony/ATV, which also took the No. 1 ranking in the top 100 country songs with a 22.9% share, claimed a stake in 52 of the top 100 tracks, including Rihanna’s “Diamonds” (No. 2), fun.’s “Some Nights” (No. 3) and Ne-Yo’s “Let Me Love You (Until You Learn to Love Yourself)” (No. 5). In the prior quarter, the two combined song portfolios had a piece of 53 songs among the top 100.

For the second consecutive quarter, Kobalt Music Group ranked second, with 16.5% in the fourth quarter, which is down from the 17.5% it posted in the third quarter but up from the 15.6% it had in fourth-quarter 2011. For fourth-quarter 2012, Kobalt placed 25 tracks in the top 100 songs, down from 29 in the third quarter. Kobalt’s shares included Maroon 5’s No. 1 track, “One More Night”; “Diamonds”; and Ke$ha’s “Die Young” (No. 7).

Universal Music Publishing Group continues to be on the rise, this time moving up in the rankings to No. 3, with a 15.9% share, versus the 12.6% it had in the third quarter when it ranked fourth. In fact, that third-quarter tally marked an improvement from the second quarter, when UMPG had an 11.3% share. But it’s down from the 16.3% it had in fourth-quarter 2011, when it was ranked No. 2 behind EMI.

For fourth-quarter 2012, UMPG had a piece of 39 songs among the top 100, up from the 35 it had in the third quarter. Its top songs included “One More Night,” Bruno Mars’ “Locked Out of Heaven” (No. 4) and “Let Me Love You.”

Even though it gained in market share, Warner/Chappell Music fell to No. 4 from No. 3 in the third quarter when it had 13.1%. For fourth-quarter 2012, Warner/Chappell posted 14.2% and placed 32 tracks in the top 100, down from 37. But that’s better than the No. 5 ranking it had in fourth-quarter 2011, when it had 10.4%. W/C’s top songs included “Some Nights,” “Locked Out of Heaven” and Alex Clare’s “Too Close” (No. 6).

BMG Chrysalis ranked fifth, the same as in the third quarter, with its market share falling slightly to 5.3% from 5.5%. BMG had a share in 18 of the top 100 songs, including “Locked Out of Heaven,” Chris Brown’s “Don’t Wake Me Up” (No. 11) and Ellie Goulding’s “Lights” (No. 18). In fourth-quarter 2011, BMG had a 7% share and ranked No. 6.

For the fourth consecutive quarter, Downtown Music Publishing appears in the rankings, this time at No. 6 with 3.9%, up from the 2.7% it had in the third quarter. In finishing sixth, Downtown placed eight songs in the top 100, one more than the prior quarter. Its songs included “Don’t Wake Me Up” and Phillip Phillips’ “Home” (No. 12).
Also on a four-consecutive-quarter streak is Words & Music Copyright Administration, which ranked No. 7 with a 2.2% share based on the five tracks it placed in the quarter’s top songs, which included Carrie Underwood’s “Blown Away” (No. 36).

Big Loud Bucks posted a 1.7% share, good enough to return the publisher to the rankings for the first time since second-quarter 2009. In placing eighth, Big Loud Songs had six tracks among the top 100, including Florida Georgia Line’s “Cruise” (No. 24) and “Blown Away.”

Razor & Tie’s piece of “Home” places the publisher at No. 9 with a 0.93% share — a drop from the 1% it had the last time it was in the top 10 in fourth-quarter 2011.
Rounding out the rankings, Jerk Awake Music’s share in Demi Lovato’s “Give Your Heart a Break” (No. 43) kept the company in the top 10 for a second consecutive quarter, with 0.89%.

Martin Karl “Max Martin” Sandberg was the top songwriter for the quarter with a share in six songs among the top 100, including “One More Night,” Taylor Swift’s “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together” (No. 8) and Katy Perry’s “Wide Awake” (No. 20). [Billboard.biz]